My observation of the game

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Not a shocker, but it is obvious that EJ is not in the same weight class (borrowing a phrase from boxing) as Rivers. A 13 NFL game career vs a 10 year "not quite HOF" career vet. Both offenses were put into the same situation: no run production, under duress from pressure. Rivers made plays whereas EJ could not. There are so many little but so important things EJ could learn from this game by watching the tapes of Rivers. Check into right plays at the line: EJ did a couple of times; Rivers did it EVERY TIME. EJ holding the ball a bit too long/too short in the pocket; Rivers always had the perfect timing except one case. We all see EJ being more decisive in the pocket this year; but Rivers is better like the scramble he made to convert a 3rd down. They are just so many to numerate. Again, I admit that Rivers is a finished product whereas EJ has a lot of growth ahead of him. But we need to see some in season growth from EJ. The environment is good: some success early season to boost confidence; a setback to expose some deficiency. NFL is a ruthless business. You either overcome your deficiency or your opponent will explore them to death.
Marrone and Co need to fix the run game or this Bills season can go south very quickly. I would bet every Bills fan expected the Bills to run the ball on the Chargers. They could not. To me that's the biggest reason for this loss.
Defense is solid. But we may need quicker adjustments in games. The Bills secondary post game talked about Chargers picking game surprised them and they did not really have an answer the whole game. I like the run defense, but I long for Pettine's unorthodox pressure system where we certainly could have used a few times today.
Against teams like Miami, we win with our talent. Against teams like Chicago, we need solid game with turnovers. San Diego is probably better than Chicago right now and we didn't get a turnover. Think about it, we lose by one and a half score most of the day (TD and FG). If we get a turnover to snuff out one of their score and put one on our own, we're likely right there to the end.
Back to our winning formula - run the ball, solid D (run and pass), and mistake free from EJ and his receivers. We need all 3 to win. I still go back to #2 above: if we can't run the ball (like today), we are not going to win many games (like today).

[TacklingDummy]

I'd rather her Jim Kelly over Steve Tasker 7 days a week.

[Crisis]

I miss the aggressiveness of Pettine's scheme sometimes, but teams are running all over the Browns D like they did to us last year.

[Don't Panic]

The three things I saw as being the difference yesterday (against a very good and very prepared Charger team), were the penalties, Ej's inaccuracy, and the lack of anything close to consistent pressure on Rivers. Had we been even slightly better in all three of those, that last drive of the game is for the win.

[Fletch]

I didn't see much of a difference between this game and the Miami game except for the energy at the stadium, which wasn't the same yesterday, and the fact that Miami had no talent on the field and SD did.

Miami and SD both put up about the same number of rushing yards and SD only had 41 more passing yards. We actually put up 3 more passing yards against SD than we did against Miami. We had only 87 rushing yards vs the 113 we had against Miami. Those aren't the kind of differences in numbers that explain the difference between a 19 point win and a 12 point loss.

The difference is talent. We weren't up against a team led by a QB that's not much better than Manuel with a backup RB starting and some of the worst starting WRs in the league. That and a KR for TD.

[trapezeus]

bears game - 9 penalties 108 yards for bills
Dolphins game - 6-40 for bills
SD -11-110 for bills.

Can you tell which games were closer based on the penalties? it seemed like every decent play t he bills had, they took a penalty. and for the most part, they were committing those fouls. so the coaches need to get the discipline back.

Also thought it took schwartz a long time to adjust to the picks that were exposing the team to big plays. That was the first set of big plays since the openning drive vs chicago.

I thought preston brown looked a little lost in coverage on RBs.

didn't like the 40 passes the bills threw. i don't think EJ is there yet to carry a team. especially if he looks as poor as he does early. Let the team get on board of trying to run 4 yards a carry.

[Fletch]

I thought preston brown looked a little lost in coverage on RBs.

didn't like the 40 passes the bills threw. i don't think EJ is there yet to carry a team. especially if he looks as poor as he does early. Let the team get on board of trying to run 4 yards a carry.

Brown's going to look lost on coverage often, he's not a pass situation LB.

As to the 40 passes, this team isn't going to be playing like they were against the Fins last week very often, meaning up by a TD or more. Manuel's going to have to be relied upon, which is not good since he's not up to the task. So expect some games where we find ourselves in a position to throw the ball more. Especially since our own running game hasn't set the world on fire.

Since I'm firmly on record suggesting that this is still only a 4 or 5 win team I'll say that I expect us to lose 8 games as a result of having to rely on Manuel to one extent or another.

The good news is that we used three draft picks to draft a WR that all we need to do is get him the ball at the line of scrimmage and he'll post 100 yards after the catch every game because he's so fast and agile approaching what the NFL has never seen before. Good to know. I'll keep that one tucked away in my back pocket. It's good to know because you really don't need a good QB to take advantage of such skills. Any stiff that can wing a simple screen can do it.

[trapezeus]

Brown's going to look lost on coverage often, he's not a pass situation LB.

As to the 40 passes, this team isn't going to be playing like they were against the Fins last week very often, meaning up by a TD or more. Manuel's going to have to be relied upon, which is not good since he's not up to the task. So expect some games where we find ourselves in a position to throw the ball more. Especially since our own running game hasn't set the world on fire.

Since I'm firmly on record suggesting that this is still only a 4 or 5 win team I'll say that I expect us to lose 8 games as a result of having to rely on Manuel to one extent or another.

The good news is that we used three draft picks to draft a WR that all we need to do is get him the ball at the line of scrimmage and he'll post 100 yards after the catch every game because he's so fast and agile approaching what the NFL has never seen before. Good to know. I'll keep that one tucked away in my back pocket. It's good to know because you really don't need a good QB to take advantage of such skills. Any stiff that can wing a simple screen can do it.

back to saying 3 picks for watkins. this kind of stupidity can't even be coached out of you, can it?

[elltrain22]

Great post & great analysis!!

[Fletch]

back to saying 3 picks for watkins. this kind of stupidity can't even be coached out of you, can it?

Yeah, I'm sorry, I thought it took a 1st this year a 1st next year and 4th next year.

I guess I don't know what I'm saying.

I realize that somewhere in that braindead world of yours somehow two 1sts and a 4th really translates to a single pick.

Do you try really hard to be a ***** or does it just come naturally?

[better days]

bears game - 9 penalties 108 yards for bills
Dolphins game - 6-40 for bills
SD -11-110 for bills.

Can you tell which games were closer based on the penalties? it seemed like every decent play t he bills had, they took a penalty. and for the most part, they were committing those fouls. so the coaches need to get the discipline back.

Also thought it took schwartz a long time to adjust to the picks that were exposing the team to big plays. That was the first set of big plays since the openning drive vs chicago.

I thought preston brown looked a little lost in coverage on RBs.

didn't like the 40 passes the bills threw. i don't think EJ is there yet to carry a team. especially if he looks as poor as he does early. Let the team get on board of trying to run 4 yards a carry.

The Bills were called for a lot of penalties yesterday & the Chargers were called for very few.

Even the TV announcers commented that the Chargers could have had more penalties called on them.

[gebobs]

The Bills were called for a lot of penalties yesterday & the Chargers were called for very few.

Even the TV announcers commented that the Chargers could have had more penalties called on them.

Would someone explain to me how this is legal? Their first TD, Rivers throws to Royal and, with the ball in the air, Allen lays a block on our corner.

17122

[CoolBreeze]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I thought it took a 1st this year a 1st next year and 4th next year.

I guess I don't know what I'm saying.

I realize that somewhere in that braindead world of yours somehow two 1sts and a 4th really translates to a single pick.

Do you try really hard to be a ***** or does it just come naturally?

2 picks! It's a simple concept to grasp. We did not give away our first pick this year, we simply moved up. We still had our 1st round pick this year (Watkins).. We gave away our 1st and 4th next year to move our 1st this year. Again this should be easy to understand

[CoolBreeze]

Would someone explain to me how this is legal? Their first TD, Rivers throws to Royal and, with the ball in the air, Allen lays a block on our corner.

17122

I'd like to say that's illegal, but I really don't know. And until yesterday I also thought WR picks on DBs were in some way Illegal as well or at least were Illegal at some point

[IlluminatusUIUC]

Would someone explain to me how this is legal? Their first TD, Rivers throws to Royal and, with the ball in the air, Allen lays a block on our corner.

17122

http://www.milehighreport.com/mhr-film-study/2013/12/10/5195218/nfl-rules-clarification-pick-plays


From the same rule, Article 4 "Other Prohibited Acts by the Offense. Blocking more than one yard beyond the line of scrimmage by an offensive player prior to a pass being thrown is offensive pass interference."

Allen can initiate a block within a yard of the LOS before the ball is thrown (and as I recall he did, I'd need to watch the video again) and its not OPI. There's screen shots through the link of the Broncos doing the same thing.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

didn't like the 40 passes the bills threw. i don't think EJ is there yet to carry a team. especially if he looks as poor as he does early. Let the team get on board of trying to run 4 yards a carry.

CJ Spiller might be in his lastyear as a Bill, but this statement just get me up about his performance. Yes he averaged 4 ypc this season. He had one 47 yard run which covered his other 15 carries of 2 yard or less. If he has Rivers as his QB, it works because they can use someone who hit a home run as a threat while still moving the chain the other times. But for EJ and Marrone, that does not work. The way this team is setup, they need the back to hit the hole and get more consistent yards so they face 3rd and 2 more often. CJ is not that RB. It's not a surprise that when Jackson went into the game yesterday, they started to move the chain more regularly. Unfortunately jackson IS an old man and needs more blows. Take that failed 4th down. I wish they sent in Dixon instead of CJ on that 3rd down play if Jackson needed to come off the field. Right now, when CJ comes in, teams know it's going to be a run play, maybe a screen, whereas when Jackson is there, the Bills are more unpredictable.

By the way, wouldn't the Chargers be dying to get a back like Spiller with their running back situations?

[trapezeus]

Yeah, I'm sorry, I thought it took a 1st this year a 1st next year and 4th next year.

I guess I don't know what I'm saying.

I realize that somewhere in that braindead world of yours somehow two 1sts and a 4th really translates to a single pick.

Do you try really hard to be a ***** or does it just come naturally?

did i say one? the bills MOVED up to 4 and swapped 1st. if the trade ended there, they would have moved up for nothing. advantageous for the bills. but they were charged a 4th and a 1st for that priviledge. so it's two picks that were given to move up and swap positions.

if you say it again that it's 3 picks, it won't ever be true. that's a fact of living on earth and in reality. if pointing out how a trade works makes me a *****, then so be it.